That is a very tough question – so I will start with questions for you.

How much do you spend on the printed phone book?
Consider moving that money over to Social Media – because (almost) NO ONE uses the phone book anymore, and you should stop killing trees.

Because of the way Social Media interacts – your old way of measuring ROI (with the phone book) is obsolete – just like the phone book. How can I be so harsh? Well, I am just being blunt. Our story starts, long ago, when the printed word was king and the internet was just a “fad”.
Back then – You placed an ad in the phone book – your phone either rang or it didn’t – simple right?
OK – put your memory to the test – how many other mediums did you use to to support that phone book ad?
Did you use TV? Maybe a local cheap cable channel.
How about radio? FM stations were awesome up until the iPod could work with your car radio.
What about all the other print? Newsprint in the local paper, community paper, billboards, flyers on the windshields of cars in parking lots.

SO really – think again how much you used to spend and REALLY think of how you measured your ROI. You more than likely just figured that you got more calls, made more business and that you made more than you spent – which is just as silly as saying I spent $2000 on Social Media and I got nothing for it.
Reality check – Social Media takes time and participation. The best Social Media Expert in the world still has no idea about your interaction with your clients. So if you are not participating in your program you have no one to blame but yourself. With that in mind…

A good Social Media program will have your Marketing Specialist coordinating your efforts with:
Your Employees
Your Clients
Your Prospects
Your charities or community involvement

This should include
Facebook
LinkedIn
Blog
Twitter
Email

Yes, you have more places to check and respond – other than just the phone. Here is another thing to remember – more people use Text, Email, Social Media to communicate than they do the phone.
Think about it – when was the last time you tried to call on the phone and was put on hold for more than a minute?
You more than likely: hung up – sent a text, email or tried another number. I would be willing to bet an internet search was involved also.
So if you did it – why would you think for even one second your customer wont?

Everyone talks about measuring ROI and my 2 cents is to measure Y.A.P. – Your Active Participation. If your YAP is the best it can be, then you will know that when the time comes – and your customer needs you – you will be available, no matter which way they try to contact you.
If they can’t talk to you today and get a response by the next business day, you can bet they will find and talk to someone else.

Every businessperson knows one must identify their potential market. That is what demographics is all about, right? Not so fast, my friend. In today’s ever-changing world, we now need to incorporate a new factor, the generation. The lines blur between generations and two people 5 years apart may identify themselves with the older or younger generation. A person born at the end of Generation X might identify with Y and
a person born at the beginning of Generation X might identify with the Baby Boomers. Everything plays a factor now including where they grew up, if their parents were divorced or not, how much they and their parents make. Let’s take a look at the description of each generation, not their actual age, although I do reference what years each is most likely born.

The Greatest Generation

Born between 1901 and 1925, this generation also has been called the Depression…

Facebook will have a mandatory change to the timelines of all Fan Pages. This change will happen across the board on June 6, 2014. I have noticed a few things that you must modify on your posts. Subtle, but necessary.

UPDATED Edit – I just received a notice on a client page “Your Page will automatically be updated on June 18. Learn More“. That link is old news. This post has to do with something they DON’T talk about – posting and linking images. Judging from past events – my best estimate is – if you chose to update your page already that will still happen June 6th. All others not chosen to go to the new format will update on June 18th. In addition, today (June 4th) descriptions seem to be showing again, hopefully they got that bug fixed. – Will

When you post a link – to your blog for example, you must have pictures at least 400 pixels wide. I recommend higher but 400×300 seems to do the trick. Why? If your image is smaller – Facebook is removing the description of the post. Here is an example of a small image:

This was my last blog. Yeah, I am a bit busy.

Here is a better post with a large image:

Notice the description shows up? The first example will show or not show the description – without any notice. I mean – it shows the description in the preview – then disappears when it posts. However – if your image on your blog is 400×300 or bigger – its shows the way on the bottom every time. Since you can only edit the top – this is a crucial choice to consider before posting.

Lets say the image in the blog is too small – there is an easy fix for that. Go to the blog – right click your mouse (CHROME ONLY) and choose “search Google for this image”. You will find the image over and over in all sizes available. Simply save and then insert the larger same saved image and your post is golden. FYI – this is a great tool for check copyrights. Using your own pictures is best, but if you must use a picture that you THINK is OK, use this tool and make sure you check every image for copyright notices.

Chasing the Rabbithole

Hash-tags. While researching how to fix this and a couple of other posting issues, I came across a site called Hashtagify.me designed for Twitter. The neat thing is – I can put in a subject and come up with ideas on what hash-tag to use on Facebook. I notice with the proper use of relevant hash-tags I can double to triple the views of a single post. Here is the tricky part, DO NOT OVERUSE the hash-tag. 1-2 is best – the 3rd or more don’t show and also seem to drop #2. If you use 4 or more hash-tags (Facebook, remember?) then none of them work.